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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

ARC REVIEW: The Coconut Swindle by Matt Abraham















In this exciting prequel to the critically acclaimed Dane Curse, a pair of black capes are found dead on the floor of Wentorf Hall, mere inches away from the world’s largest diamond. Of course the cops think the pair killed each other over the heist. After all, everyone knows that the Vandenberg Coconut is a one size fits all motivation for murder. Everyone, that is, except for Dane Curse. 
But when the former villain turned PI takes the case he’ll discover that the truth has more sides than a diamond has facets. And in order to get to it Dane will follow a trail that leads through an old enemy with a bagful of grudges, a killer who specializes in assassinating super villains, and a wealthy socialite with a murky motive. A thorny maze indeed, and sitting at its heart, mysteriously returned from years in hiding, is Dane’s very own daughter. 
Will Dane Curse discover the thieves’ secret in time to solve the case, save his agency, and protect his only child from a vicious death? Or will he lose it all, just another victim of The Coconut Swindle? 
I received a copy of this novel in return for an honest review


First off the cover is great, some serious nostalgia there, noir style.

In fact the whole book is like that, very Maltese Falcon/Casablanca. Though then you add in the supernatural elements of this story as well: i.e. super powers. This combination was a fun read.

I haven’t read anything by the author before so it was a little confusing, this being book two and all. I was able to catch up and enjoy the author’s writing style, characters and plot. It made it much easier as this is the prequel to the first novel Dane Curse.

The plot line is pretty straight forward, the Dane Curse Detective Agency solves mysteries and finds bad guys. There is even a jewel heist, the world’s largest diamond the Vandenberg Coconut goes missing. Dane Curse and his side arms (which had cute nick names) must find the culprit!

The secondary characters are also pretty clever, people named: Mr. West, Viking etc.Etc...

I enjoyed this book, even though it’s a bit outside my normal genre. I recommend reading it, especially if you love Dick Tracy and Marvel Comics, this is a great mash up of several genres and will appeal to grownups and the YA New Adult crowd.